Over the weekend, I watched the movie “Inception”. The film uses a lot of the film techniques
that we have learned about in class to great extent. A jump cut can be seen in the movie when
Dominic Cobb and his team are trying to get the “kick” from each dream
level. A flash back to each level is
shown, such as the van driving off the bridge, and then a jump cut to the level
where another dreamer is located. Music
is also used very nicely during these jump cuts. As the van or person gets closer and closer
to getting “kicked” from the dream, the music builds, helping to make the
scenes even more suspenseful. Music is
also used very nicely during the infamous final scene. When Dom finally gets back and sees his kids,
the music is very calming; helping the viewer to feel like the end is finally
here. But when Dom spins his spinning
top before going to see his kids for the 1st time in years, the
music starts to build up once again, with a close up on the spinning top. As the music builds up, the screen quickly goes
black, causing the viewer to wonder if Dom is still dreaming or in
reality.
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Recently I also watched the movie Inception. Although the plot is at times confusing and difficult to follow I find it to be a very interesting film. One of the most significant scenes takes place on the second level of the dream. It takes place in a hotel and all of the characters apart from Arthur played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt have entered the third level of the dream. This leaves Arthur the responsibility of looking after all of their motionless bodies. To take the focus away from the room his friends are in he escaped to the hallway, however there is security coming to intercept him as well The scene then turns into a moderately paced chase down the hall way, and the music in the background begins to build up. This chase is all happening at the same time as a crazy car chase occurs on the first dream level. As the van in the car chase begins to topple and swing the hotel hallway also moves accordingly. As Arthur fights off the dream security the gravity in the hallway changes and the hallway is shown spinning. At times the camera stays at a still level and shows the changing of the hallway and how the characters have to adjust to the different gravity, in a few cases Arthur uses it to his advantage and it helps him fight off his attackers. The camera often tracks behind Arthur as he runs in a spiral pattern down the hallway, and this truly shows the weakness of the dream levels.
ReplyDeleteA really important part about this movie is the dedication to showing the correct surroundings in each dream. The mis en scene is really what makes this movie great. For example, when they've entered "Limbo" (a state so far into a dream that if you can't wake from it you're stuck there for around 50 years) all the surroundings are changed to what Dom's mind thinks of. Huge buildings him and his wife built, and made pretty much a storrage hold for all of their memories together. The craziness and irregularity shows us Dom's characterization as well. Also, as the other people have said, sound plays a huge role in this movie. What I found quite amazing is when they went from the crazy, loud and thrilling hotel to the quiet huge expanse of the snow world. The lack of music here makes it feel like they've traveled very far into this man's mind, which they have. Also You hear the bumps and noises from the previous dreams which alerts the people in the next dream. Another example of this is when Ariadne figures out how to change the surroundings in a dream. When she moves the road so it's completely at 90 degrees towards there position, the music starts to get louder and signifies that an intense part is coming up. This movie really has some huge twists and turns and the film techniques are far and wide.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a fan of Inception. I thought that the movie was made really well and that the confusing plot made the movie unique. The directors did a great job of picking music that kept the viewer on the edge of their seat while the action scenes occurred. The directors also used a variety of shots that depended on the scene. For most of the action scenes, a mid range or long range shot was used so that the battle could be seen in its entirety. For the slower scenes, they used more mid range shots and a few close ups so that the characters body language and facial expressions could be observed. The movie also uses a lot of mis en scene. The biggest example of this, are the people that the target’s subconscious mind creates to find the “dream spies”. They are an example of mis en scene because they represent the mental barriers that people build to hide their inner secrets. They are unsuspicious for a little bit and then as you get closer to the secret, they become more aware of your actions and more suspicious. All in all, a great movie.
ReplyDeleteI have watched the movie inception just recently, it is by far my favorite movie. This movie shows many good film techniques such as the music played during the really intense fight scenes. For example, in the scene where Arthur, Cobb's right hand man, was in the hotel room and he was waiting for the "kick" to happen, A projection of the dreamer's subconcious started to chase after Arthur and try and destroy their plan. The music during the fight scene was really fast paced to cause suspense for the viewers. And once the fight stopped with Arthur killing his opponent, the music ended to let the viewers know that the intensity has died. Along with the music playing, there was also a vareity of different camera angles being used. There a lot of short shots and close ups of the characters to make the fight seem really tightly packed. Also the hotel room hallway was suppose to moving around and they used a lot of panning and dutch angles to create this illusion.
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